“I was called in to offer support for medical staff following the death of a very young child. They knew I’d be checking on them – I was expected. After walking and talking with some of the staff, I approached the nurse who was directly involved. I didn’t mention the event and we engaged in the usual way. We made some small talk, very much on the surface. She joked around, made some wisecracks, and we were smiling and laughing.

Suddenly she broke down into tears. Everybody else went silent as this nurse fell into my arms. I held her as she cried. No words came to comfort her, so I silently invoked the spirit of peace and comfort. The moment passed. She wiped her eyes and apologized for breaking down. I responded by thanking her for her tears and asked what they meant. She expressed her feelings – sadness, anger, guilt, pain – and walked me through the experience of the loss of the child, and the impact and meaning it had for her.

The other staff gathered and began sharing and comforting one another. The one-on-one encounter turned into an emotional group session that moved the staff to a new level of comfort, confidence, and trust in each other.”

It may seem extraordinary to have a job where such encounters are not unusual – where they are, in fact, the heart of the job. And it is extraordinary. To step into some of life’s most difficult situations and bring comfort, understanding, release, a feeling of community, and resolve to go forward: this is exactly what chaplains do.

HealthCare Chaplaincy Network is absolutely devoted to helping chaplains be the best they can be. We provide education, on-the-job training, and the ongoing support that chaplains need as much as anyone else. We fight as no other organization does for acknowledgment within the medical arena of the value that chaplains bring to patients, patients’ loved ones, and yes, to the staff who often suffer right along with their patients.

HealthCare Chaplaincy also needs support in this essential work. I hope you’ll consider a generous gift to HCCN during this season of giving. It goes a long way toward creating a more humane and loving medical system, and toward healing the deepest wounds we carry with us.